Sailor electrocuted on frigate Rentz identified

A sailor aboard the San Diego-based Navy frigate Rentz was electrocuted Saturday evening while conducting repairs aboard the ship in the United Arab Emirates, Navy officials said.

Petty Officer 3rd Class David Mudge, 22, of Sutherlin, Ore., was working in an auxiliary machinery space when the accident occurred at 5:47 p.m. local time at a pier in Jebel Ali, UAE, said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman. Medical responders worked to resuscitate him until ambulance crews took him to a local hospital, where he died about half an hour later.

The Navy has begun an investigation to determine what caused the incident.

The Rentz deployed to the Persian Gulf July 31 as part of the Nimitz carrier strike group, which is due to return to San Diego next spring. It is the smallest ship in the strike group at 4,100 tons and carrying a crew of about 210.